•
Mudita
fails when it produces superficial frivolity
•
Mudita
succeeds when there is an uplifting appreciation of the worth and value of others’ good
fortune
There is a crucial difference between rejoicing in one’s own virtues and a more grasping form of
self-congratulation (“aren’t I good”). This parallels the difference between remorse and guilt.
Meditating on mudita is a valuable and effective practice for neutralizing low self-esteem, envy,
depression and cynicism
Just as remorse counteracts the potency of a regrettable act, so
rejoicing enhances the potency of a worthy act.
4. Equanimity (Upekha)
Seeing the transience and changeability of human relations arouses equanimity. Within equanimity
there is balance and groundedness, and a sense of transcendence through present moment
awareness.
• The illusory facsimile is the equanimity of ignorance or indifference (near enemy)
• The opposite is attachment and aversion (far enemy)
• The cause of equanimity is seeing the arbitrary nature and changeability of human relations
•
Upekha
fails when it produces the equanimity of ignorance, which is indifference
•
Upekha
succeeds when self-centered attachment and aversion for others subsides
Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training at Thanyapura
June 2010 was the first Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training, CEBTT, which took place
in Phuket, Thailand, at the newly constructed
CEBTT is taught in a
highly experiential format over the course of five weeks. The training is divided into two sections,
two weeks of intensive emotional skills teacher training, designed by Paul Ekman and taught by
Eve Ekman, and three weeks of silent meditation covering practices of
Shamatha
, settling the mind
in its natural state and the four immeasurables, led by Alan Wallace.
In the last three years a total of one hundred and fifty participants from over twenty countries have
attended. Eve Ekman has been training emotional skills while working towards her Ph.D. in public
health and psychology research in the School of Social Welfare at Berkeley; she has also been a
medical social worker in the San Francisco General Hospital Emergency Room since 2006.
The first two weeks focus upon ideas outlined in Paul Ekman’s 2003 “Emotions Revealed” and is
taught in didactic, Socratic and experiential formats to encourage discussion, self-discovery and
the practice of emotional skills. CEB is not explicitly “compassion” training, however the skills of
emotional balance and contemplative teachings of the Four Immeasurables, namely compassion,
empathetic joy, equanimity and loving-kindness, provide rich materials to develop a deep
emotional awareness, which implicitly includes the practice of compassion.
The first class had the opportunity to see training in the making and was deeply influential in the
development of the pedagogy and manual. Following the 2010 CEBTT, Alan Wallace, Paul and
Eve Ekman developed a manual to teach CEB for the CEBTT participants. Instructive handouts
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